The Scorch Trails (Chapters 23-29)

    In the beginning of chapter 23, Thomas awakes from his dream to find that a storm is coming. Waking everyone up, they beginning running in the direction of shelter just as they stumble across and old and half dead man. The man will only talk to Thomas and warns him of bad people and a horrible storm on their way. Then the storm begins. White lightning, great gusts of wind, and grainy dirt fly at the group of 18 as they run. No rain falls, but each lightning strike hits the ground. By the time they reach shelter, seven people were hit and Minho was set on fire but saved by Thomas. Falling asleep, they wake up to find Cranks in their building. Minho starts a fight with the leader and Thomas steps in, saving all of their lives. Together, the leader and Thomas talk about their experiences and reasons why the Cranks should keep them alive. Thomas succeeds and the leader leads all of his followers away except one, Brenda, and feed Thomas and the rest of the group. At the end of chapter 29, the ceiling collapses, separating Thomas from his friends and the leader of the Cranks, leaving him with Brenda. 

    A conflict every character must face his man versus world. The world is slowly trying to kill everyone off, either with the storms or the Flare. It's every man for himself and if you're even a few feet behind one person, you're a goner. Each person, Crank or otherwise, are fighting each other, animals, climate, and diseases.